Esha - The Braille Place

Finally!!

Its a simple website in black and white, no pictures. That is to show the black and white, pictureless world of the people we work for.

Feedback is welcome, and it will really help if you could just add a link on your blogs about the work we do at Esha. We do not have the resources to advertise, but I do believe that it is possible to spread the message through word of mouth. You might just help someone who is looking for this information.

www.braillecards.org

Please go there, and tell me what you think!

Today, we got another idea - FMCG companies that lose out on several blind customers because those labels are unintelligible. Such an awesome gap!!

We are planning to run a small survery, asking the blind whether a braille label will impact their purchase decision. I have a gut feel hypothesis, but let us start with the anti hypothesis - that it will not.

Thoughts, anyone?  

This is a test post to see whether WordPress automatically generates code like blogger does. I did learn html, but that was such a long time ago. here goes the attempt.

We’ve designed a simple theater workshop that focuses on an exploration of our gifts.

Participants are encouraged to create their own play during the workshop, so everyone has a lot of fun. This workshop works at 2 levels - at the basic level, it makes us grateful for our own gifts, and at another, it sensitises us to the needs of those who are not as privileged.

On the 2nd of August, I was around at one of our workshops. Was blown by the impact on the participants after just 90 minutes of the workshop. It was so apparent that these guys were touched, that I did not even need to make the endpoint at the end of the workshop. Their faces indicated that they’d understood what the workshop was about.

You know, i like these days of small successes.. they make one’s day, and what’s better.. they remain in memory as sweet little raisins.

Every once in a while, I run Google Search for keywords that should ideally lead to the Braillecards.org website.

It helps us understand where we are on page rank, and also helps us know if there is anyone else in the same space, so we can collaborate.

 Always, without exception, these net searches lead one to very interesting work being done by other people, and its impossible to not share the excitement!

 Today, its this really nice list of periodicals for the disabled. The list has been compiled, quite nicely, by a website called Shruti. And while we are at it, I must also appreciate the website itself. It’s super cool.

Periodicals in Special Media

We are not listed on this site yet :-( Let’s see if i can find a way to get them informed.  

The other nice place that i found was this:

APCD Project

This place is good because, though there are hajaar people working for the same end, it irritates me that there is no network, no one place where you can at least get information about such initiatives at one place.

Shruti and ACPD are both excellent because u at least get a consolidated, compiled information base.

As they would say in my IIM Calcutta lingo, Gud Show!

I really enjoyed this one. Do hope you like it too. Tell us what you think.

 http://www.jp.onkyo.com/braille_essay2006/me01mr_nikhil_jain.htm

Today, we did the most thorough audit possible for Blind Accessibility. This was at IIT Delhi, and included points that i could not even have dreamt of! 

 The audit started at 1030 hours and went on till (phew!) 1630 hours. We did 3 audits - Visitor Audit, Student Audit, Employee Audit.

The report is now ready and submitted, and the payment realised. Wow!! The audit fees was just Rs. 4000 for all the 3 audits, because we worked really hard and finished all the 3 audits in one day!

(Raising a well deserved toast).. Congratulations!

Tomorrow, we will be doing our first Accessibility Audit in India. Wish us luck.

http://nowrunning.com/news/slideshow.asp?newsID=4281&it=6&t=0

I just realised that way back in Sep 2005, Jet Airways launched a Braille safety manual. Rani Mukherjee and Javed Akhtar were invited to launch it.

 I am, therefore, surprised, because, in all this while, have never come across this Braille enabled safety manual in a Jet Flight. Maybe, i shld ask the Jet staff the next time..  

What working with the Blind has taught me

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time now. Here it is, finally.

A lot of people who know me personally, often comment on how it’s a very good job that I’m doing with the blind. Each time, I have tried to correct the person and inform them that actually, it’s the other way round. What I have learnt from the blind people I have worked with is much, much more than what any of them has gained from me.

Here is how my life is better because of the skills I learnt from the blind.

• I can walk around my house in pitch darkness.
• If I’m cooking when the power goes off, I don’t have to turn the gas off and wait for the electricity to come back. I can continue cooking most of the times.
• I don’t have to wake up to monitor the maid or the house. Even in my sleep, I do it with the ears and the nose. The maid hates it. I love the extra sleep. I learnt that from the students who knew someone was entering the class, even when I did not know it until after the person had entered.
• Even if I am entering a building for the first time, I will be able to find my way over the sections that I have covered, in pitch darkness. This is because I count my steps and make a mental note of all the ups and downs of the floor surface. I learnt that from the students I worked with.
• When buying clothes, I have learnt to close my eyes and then feel the texture. The difference in sensation is quite impressive. 
• I have learnt that it is possible to have fun AND hate people who pity you at the same time.
• I have seen that it is possible to dance to perfect formations by just counting your steps and perfecting them individually. You cannot see the harmony you have created on stage, but everyone else can, and its beautiful!
• I have learnt that there are 2 ways in which you can react to abject pity from others. You can either learn to use it to your advantage, or you can push it back with even more vigor. Your repulsion to that pity gives you more strength.